Current: Spring 2016

Current A Publication of Palm Beach Atlantic University

Volume XXVII No. 1 Spring 2016

Regional Champions NCAA WINS Volleyball, men’s soccer teams make history Page 18

Lubben Family Bluegrass Band: 4

Workship hits 3 million hours: 27

Current

From the President

Spring 2016

Volume XXVII No. 1

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS Brenden Kesler '07 President

Ben Starling III '92 Michael Thorstad '07 MBA Ramona Zapper '91 Don Harp, Lifetime Member

Paul Giles '94 Vice President

PARENTS COUNCIL

Rosemary Aguilar '09/ '11 M.S. Recording Secretary

Brad and Debbie Mason, Co-chairs;

Natalie Alvarez '11 Rob Anderson '94 Daylen Brinkley '15 Deborah Bowmar Jaffe '89/ '92 MBA Beth Charbonneau '10 Jessica Clasby '13/ '15 M.S. Victoria Chouris '97/ '01 MBA John Cupini '08 Lee Curtis '04 Evelyn Flores '06/ '09 M.S. Richard Heers '90 Patti Johnson Hovey '87 Putnam Kling '10 Richard Lassiter '88 Stephen Magallanes '07 Jean Marseille '05 Matt McKee '95 Yalonda Moring Meckstroth '83 Claudia Wolf Moore '05 Pharm.D. Carlin Stob Rykse '08 Ana Salguero '12 Chad Simpson '96 Don Sloan '73

Rich and Catherine Berlanti William and Cynthia Campbell Wayne and Deretta Cotton, Founding Members; Jon and Helen Dickinson Eric and Jennifer Duncan David and Kathy Fox

14

Mark and Cyndie Friese Dave and Priscilla Guinta Andy and Terry Hardman Mike and Christy Lubben

Feature s

David and Darlene Miller Robert and Cindy Read

4

Bob and Karen Scheuer David and Alesia Wilson

William M. B. Fleming, Jr. | President Vicki Pugh | Vice President for Development Becky Peeling, APR, '05 M.S. | Associate Vice President for

27

8

Th e Lu b b e n Fa m i l y B a n d

Wo m e n o f D i s ti n c t i o n

Triplets, big brother, wives, younger brothers: what a lively family affair!

25th year of recognizing key community servants

14

28

University Relations and Marketing Delesa Hinkle Morris '85/ '14 M.S. | Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations and Annual Fund Maria O‘Carroll '07 | Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Mary Jacobs | Director of Special Projects and Parent Relations

Te a c h For America

Cl a s s N o te s

PBA alumni find challenging teaching roles in highly selective program.

See who has a new job, spouse or baby (and share your news with us).

PBAAlumni

2 Current

Spring 2016

On the cover:

@pbauniversity

@PBAtlantic

PBAvideo

Members of the Sailfish volleyball team celebrate after winning their regional championship. The Fish went on to become national runner-up. PBA soccer players are champions as well. Special coverage begins on page 16.

Dear Friends, PBA athletes excel on and off the court. They put as much heart and soul into their academics as they do into their sports. Community service is an integral part of their lives, and they dedicate themselves as followers of Christ, sharing the gospel and leading in their churches. Our athletes are true PBA champions, and so are many other students and alumni whom we recognize for excellence as entrepreneurs, teachers, moms, musicians and donors.

In a remarkable fall season, PBA athletes brought home many unprecedented victories. The cover photo on this issue of Current captures a moment of victory for PBA’s women’s volleyball team, which became the NCAA Division II National RunnerUp, making it to the national championship game for the first time in the University’s history.

Just three weeks earlier, the men’s soccer team won its NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship, again a first for PBA. We are just as proud of our student athletes as we are of other successful student and alumni champions, who continue to call upon their PBA experiences to lead in their professions. In the following pages, you will read about Ben Katzaman ’13, a young entrepreneur who saw the need to

help bone carvers in Bali make a better life by employing them in his successful Wanderer Bracelet company. You will meet two young alumni who are working with at-risk kids through Teach For America. Past Women of Distinction scholars share their stories of success in their careers and families and their desire to be the light of Christ for those who are struggling. And we introduce you to the Lubben brothers, a very talented triplet combo, who continue to awe us with their musical virtuosity in both classical and bluegrass styles.

Much of what we accomplish at PBA is made possible by donor champions like John and Sheila Rinker, whose leadership gifts have supported many new buildings, facilities and projects, including the Vera Lea Rinker

Hall, Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Athletic Campus and Rinker Sports Center. At PBA’s December commencement, we recognized these two major university influencers with our highest honor, the degree Honoris Causa, or Honorary Doctorate. In their acceptance speeches, they both spoke of the legacy of the Rinker family and the generosity that the family has shown PBA since its inception.

I thank and salute all of our PBA champions. I am proud to have them on our winning team!

Sincerely,

William M. B. Fleming, Jr. President

John and Sheila Rinker Current Spring 2016

3

From bluegrass to Beethoven & Bach:

A

young visitor to a PBA performance bobbed her head in time with the music, then glanced up at the stage and did a double-take.

“Mom!” she whispered. “There’s three of them!”

That’s right: triplets Joshua, Michael and Thomas Lubben, forming the heart of a musical family remarkable in virtuosity and versatility.

Last semester they performed as the Lubben Family Bluegrass Band, joined by Joshua’s wife, Katie, and Thomas’ wife, Shanna Terra. A couple of weeks later, the boys opened American Free Enterprise Day with fresh harmonies, singing their own a cappella arrangement of the National Anthem. Then they

4 Current Spring 2016 4 Current Fall 2015

wrapped up the semester performing Beethoven’s Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C. Their music professors call the triplets “unusually gifted, consummately focused and highly accomplished.” And their teachers also point to the hearts of the Lubbens, as reflected by Michael Lubben when he referenced their musical hero: “We’ve always really loved Bach. He said that the ultimate goal of music should be the glory of God and the refreshment of the spirit.”

Such refreshment flowed freely at the concert of the Lubben Family Bluegrass Band. The smiling quintet offered a lively mix of spirituals, classic hymns, light-hearted folk songs and two original pieces.

The versatile Lubben family sees music as a bridge to speak to others “We want our music to be attractive to people so that when they’re attracted to our music they’re attracted to the God who gave us that music and the kind of joy that it gives us,” said Joshua.

“Music seems to be a kind of bridge” to touch people, said Thomas.

He and his brothers see their singing and playing as a way to speak to others about the truth of God. The triplets got their start in music and ministry growing up in a homeschooling family “grounded in God.” (See story on page 7.) And they followed the example of their older brother, Joseph, who graduated from PBA in 2013 with a degree in music composition.

All four boys started violin lessons at age 5 and piano lessons at age 6.

“We were playing by ear before then,” said Joshua, “because we wanted to do what Joseph was doing.”

“We always took classical music more seriously, with all the lessons and private teaching and practicing,” said Michael. “And then we taught ourselves our bluegrass instruments.”

The boys heard lots of folk and bluegrass music growing up in rural Iowa.

The family moved to Coral Springs, Florida, in time for eldest Joseph to enter PBA. The triplets dual-enrolled one year here as homeschool high schoolers, but then a new job for their dad took the family to northern Minnesota, right on the Canadian border.

(Continued on following page)

The Lubben Family Bluegrass Band, from left: Katie, Joshua, Michael, Thomas and Shana Terra.

See music video, Orange Blossom Special: http://bit.ly/1OKPVge Current Spring 2016

5

‘It appears that their close, loving relationship with each other fueled the creative energy that exists among them.’

-- Prof. Marlene Woodward-Cooper

From left: Joshua, Thomas and Michael Lubben singing the National Anthem, a cappella, to open PBA's American Free Enterprise Day celebration.

wives. Shana Terra and Katie, both PBA students, had met at church, where they joined the worship After PBA had become a 33-hour drive from team. “We were spending a lot of time together and home, Thomas, Michael and Joshua considered some becoming really good friends, and then we figured out Minnesota colleges. “We all wanted to go together,” that we both liked a Lubben,” said Shana Terra. said Joshua, “because we wanted to play music Shana Terra, the shortest member of the newlytogether.” In the end, PBA proved the most attractive, named band, handles the largest instrument, a bass despite the distance. fiddle. Katie plays fiddle and hammer dulcimer. The “This whole atmosphere here is such a blessing,” boys play a mix of fiddle, mandolin, accordion, banjo, said Michael. He and his brothers have enjoyed guitar and tin whistle. performing in varied ensembles and have built As college juniors, all three brothers are looking at relationships with their professors. possible graduate study. “I feel like just waiting on God “They have passion for searching for the deeper to see where He’ll take us, because there are so many meaning of the works they study, seldom seen in possible routes for us right now,” said Joshua. “It seems most students,” said their piano professor, Marlene like every week there are new opportunities.”

Woodward-Cooper. “They told me that they played Dr. Lloyd Mims, dean of the School of Music and Fine together since early childhood, encouraging each other Arts, understands those opportunities, and he’ll enjoy without ever competing with each other. It appears that keeping up with the brothers. “Their joy of music, their their close, loving relationship with each other fueled commitment to Christ and their intellectual curiosity the creative energy that exists among them.” combine to make them incredibly poised to make an In 2015 the Lubben Brothers Bluegrass Band needed enormous impact on this world,” he said. a new name, as two of the brothers acquired musical (Continued from previous page)

6 Current

Spring 2016

Strains of music and faith began in the home Mike and Christy Lubben, with son Levi, 5, enjoy the PBA Symphony. The performers included the Lubben triplets; the program included a composition by Joseph Lubben.

I

magine what resounds from a violin when a 5-year-old begins lessons. “Not the most beautiful sound,” said PBA alumnus Joseph Lubben. Now imagine going through that painful learning process with five sons, and getting ready for the sixth to start lessons.

“It takes a certain kind of person” to put up with that routine, and even enjoy it, said Joseph. His parents, Mike and Christy Lubben, did just that. They instilled in their boys a love for music making, they trucked them around to lessons and performances and they made sure the young musicians practiced to hone their craft.

“They were instrumental to us all becoming the musicians that we are today,” said Joseph.

Joseph ’13 teaches music at a private school in Champaign, Illinois, while his triplet brothers are making music as juniors at PBA. Brother Isaac, 12, remains at home, but whenever he can he sings and plays bass with the Lubbens’ bluegrass band, as he did for the band’s CDs and videos. All those boys play violin and piano, among other instruments, and they expect youngest brother Levi, 5, to start fiddling soon.

“I think it’s such a blessing that our house is always filled with music,” said Mike. “We have a couple of pianos, and there are instruments all over the house.”

The Lubbens live in Richmond, Kentucky, now, though they were Coral Springs, Florida, residents when Joseph started at PBA. The parents claim they’re “not musical,” but they love music, and often had classical music playing in the home. Christy recalled taking Joseph to a symphony concert when he was 4.

He pointed to a violin and said, “I want to play one of those.” The eldest had started something.

As the music flowed in the Lubben household, so did the sounds of faith. “We realized that if we didn’t start our day grounded in God, and in His Word, everything would fall apart,” said Christy. They made a habit of gathering together to read Proverbs and sing hymns. “That was huge,” she said. “And now we see such fruit.”

Mike and Christy became members of the PBA Parents Council, and through the school they’ve gained three daughters-in-law, as Joseph, Joshua and Thomas have all married “PBA girls.”

Joseph’s wife, Rachel, ’13 studied piano here, and is now studying for her master’s degree in piano performance at the University of Illinois. Joseph plans to enter law school this fall at Northwestern University.

But whatever he does in the future, he’s sure of one thing: “Music will always form a huge part of my life.”

No doubt all the Lubben clan would say the same.

Current Spring 2016

7

A spotlight on selfless service

O

n Feb. 25, as Palm Beach Atlantic University hosts its 25th annual Women of Distinction gala, once again the University looks back gratefully at the inspiration and service of Dr. and Mrs. Donald E. Warren.

“The Women of Distinction scholarship program is yet another example of Don and Bebe’s genius,” said PBA President William M. B. Fleming, Jr. The late Dr. Warren was founding chairman of the University’s board of trustees. For many years he was regarded as PBA’s “friend raiser-inchief.”

Dr. and Mrs. Warren believed that PBA students could find “exquisite role models” of accomplishment and service in the Palm Beach community, said Fleming. But while male leaders in the community were praised for their outstanding accomplishments, often “the power and transformative energy” was coming from the women, who weren’t adequately recognized and celebrated, he said.

So with the leadership of the Warrens, the University began a program to recognize women who were making a positive, distinctive impact on the community and beyond. And in making this recognition, the program produced a multifaceted benefit: PBA students gained role models and scholarships, while community leaders learned more about the University and its contributions.

“It has advanced the reputation for the University,” said Fleming, “specifically the University’s role intellectually and artistically in the community.” Also, he said, the program introduced “the countless blessings our students provide the community through their Workship – PBA President efforts.”

William M. B. Fleming, Jr. “I think it’s just been an eye-opener to those living in Palm Beach to see what an incredible university we have here,” said Denise Hanley.

She and Wanda Jenkins are co-chairs of the Women of Distinction Committee, while Bebe Warren remains as honorary chairwoman.

The success of the program has been phenomenal, said Hanley. “To see up to 500 people come to honor these women has been incredibly exciting,” she said. “I’ve just never seen such a great response from the community.”

“Women of Distinction is a world-class event,” said Fleming, an event that helps the university spotlight a key PBA focus: “the art of giving and contributing to others in selfless service.”

“The Women of Distinction scholarship program is yet another example of Don and Bebe’s genius.”

Women of Distinction: Feb. 25 at The Breakers Palm Beach.

For information and tickets call (561) 803-2971.

8 Current

Spring 2016

Cathy Flagg

F

The family set a plan: 'giving back' to the community.

or Cathy Flagg, community service is a way of life, and a family affair.

“My parents taught us to give back,” she said. “My dad always said, ‘We grew up in this community, with a wonderful life. And the only way you can have a wonderful life is to give back.’”

The fatherly advice came from the late Richard S. Johnson, longtime Palm Beach businessman and philanthropist. Johnson was a member of the Palm Beach Atlantic University Board of Trustees, and he also received the University’s American Free Enterprise Medal.

On Feb. 25, when Flagg receives the honor as a PBA Woman of Distinction, she follows in the footsteps of her mother, Pat Johnson, who received the award in 2001.

A West Palm Beach native, Flagg graduated from Forest Hill High School, then earned a business degree from Vanderbilt University.

For three years she worked on the staff of Congressman Paul G. Rogers.

In Washington, D.C., she met John E. “Jack” Flagg. After they married and decided to start a family, she told him, “We need to move back to Florida.”

In Palm Beach the couple quickly set a plan for community service: “We decided Jack would have a charity, I would have a charity and we would have one that we shared.” These days she concentrates on the Hospice of Palm Beach County, while her husband supports the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League. Together they chair the capital campaign for the Quantum House, a hospital hospitality house serving children and their families.

Flagg also owns and operates Signature Collection, a West Palm Beach stationery and gift store that specializes in personalized items.

The Flaggs have two daughters, Catharine and Maggie. Maggie’s wedding will take place on Feb. 26, the day after the Women of Distinction luncheon. When Flagg learned of that luncheon date, she wondered if she could accept the PBA honor, given the busyness of a wedding week.

So she put the question to Maggie, “and without taking a breath or skipping a beat, Maggie said, ‘Well I guess we’re going to have the bridesmaids luncheon at The Breakers,’” recalled Flagg.

A

nimal welfare and historical preservation are causes near to the heart of longtime Palm Beach resident Jane Grace, who will Jane Grace receive the Women of Distinction award from Grace Pavilion Palm Beach Atlantic University on Feb. 25. is a model for For many years Grace has supported the animal shelters.

Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League, for which she is now honorary chairman of the board of directors. “I support the league because I love the animals,” she said. “They have given me such pleasure.”

Support from Grace and her husband, Robert, made possible the league’s Grace Pavilion on Military Trail in West Palm Beach. “This building will serve as the new model for the next generation of animal shelters across the country,” said David Miller, league executive director, as reported by Black Tie Magazine.

(Continued on page 10) Current Spring 2016

9

(Continued from page 9)

The Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League reported serving 28,828 dogs and cats in 2014. The Grace Pavilion provides an adoption center and a clinic for spay and neuter services. Grace has two Jack Russell terriers adopted from the league.

Grace has been a board member of the Preservation Foundation of Palm Beach, for which her husband was a founder. “Preservation is important because it holds the future,” she said. The foundation’s library is named in honor of Robert Grace, who had served as chairman of the Landmarks Preservation Commission of Palm Beach.

Jane Grace’s interest in historical preservation also extends to Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, where

ancestors of hers lived in a two-story log house now called the Walker-Ewing Log House. The house dates to 1762, and was gifted to the Pioneers West Historical Society by Jane and Robert Grace.

Jane is a native of New York City, daughter to John and Madjesa Ewing Rovensky. She has been a leader in support of The Society of the Four Arts, where the Rovensky building is named in honor of her family.

The Graces have been married for more than 67 years. They have four children and five grandchildren.

Robert Grace was a member of the Palm Beach Town Council for many years. Jane served on the town’s Architectural Review Commission and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

With proceeds from the Women of Distinction luncheon, each year two female PBA students are awarded scholarships.

Current Magazine reached out to two past scholarship recipients to learn what they are doing now and how they recall the blessings of Women of Distinction.

A

s a political science major, Megan Herwald Donley ’08 was considering a career in government, so for two summers she interned in local government. With a mindset of helping others through government, she tried to push forward initiatives to help the poor.

“But I kept getting roadblocks and a lot of political opposition,” she said. “None of my best efforts was successful.” After those internships, she concluded “that I could help people better as a private citizen than I could as a government bureaucrat.” And with that focus, she found plenty of role models among those honored in PBA’s Women of Distinction.

Donley, from New Smyrna Beach, Florida, received the Women of Distinction Scholarship as a senior in 2008. Recalling the program at The Breakers Palm Beach, she said, “The word that comes to mind is just inspiring. It was inspiring and honoring to me to be in a room of ladies who’ve used their lives not just to help others, but to create something, to make a legacy.”

After graduation she worked as a secretary at First Presbyterian Church in North Palm Beach. “That was a great year to see how you can help others in your spare time,” she said.

Next, with the encouragement of her PBA professors, she applied to law school. Accepted by several schools, she settled on Regent University, where she did so well that she landed a clerkship on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Based in Washington, D.C., the court hears monetary claims against the federal government.

10 Current

Spring 2016

Megan Donley gleans apples in an outreach by her church in Arlington, Virginia.

Donley thrived in a complex arena of statutes and regulations, and was promoted to staff attorney at the same court. “I can blame my success in law school and my current job on the critical thinking skills that I learned through the Supper Honors Program at PBA,” she said.

She married James Donley, who had also attended Political Science PBA. Together they are now small group leaders at West City Fellowship, a church plant in Arlington, Virginia. She finds rewarding ministry through her church, and she also finds ministry at work.

“The legal profession is full of stress and anxiety,” she said, “and my goal and hope for the future is to continue to maintain and establish new relationships where I can bring the light of Christ to people who are at rough times, or who are stressed and anxious because of the profession.”

B

Rachel Bryars '04 played soccer at PBA and recently “had a blast” coaching youth soccer in Madison, Alabama.

irmingham, Alabama, native Rachel Blackmon Bryars came to PBA in 2000, recruited by the Sailfish soccer coach.

She played all four years, making “some of the best, long-lasting friendships through that soccer program.”

She also enjoyed the academic challenges of the program here, where her professors led students through “fantastic works that just lifted the soul and the mind.”

“I loved that they did not try to insulate us into a Christian sub-culture,” she said. Instead, through class discussions, chapel and Workship community service she found direction to “be in the world, but not part of it,” to “engage culture.”

And in 2004 she was touched to understand how the University’s Women of Distinction have been engaging the world around them. That year, as she received the program’s scholarship, she remembers observing “these women who in their community were pouring out their hearts and pouring out their resources to strengthen and give.”

Bryars graduated that year, with a double major in English and communication. She went on to become a television reporter in Richmond, Virginia, before marrying and moving to Washington, D.C. From there she did freelance writing for a number of newspapers, including the Washington Post. She also earned a master’s degree in communication from Johns Hopkins

University. Then she settled down to raise a family, and now she and her husband, Pepper, have five children.

“I struggled very much in those first couple of years being a stay-at-home mother,” she said, especially “being in a city, D.C., where what you do is very much what many people assign your identify to.”

Looking back now, Bryars believes God was training her heart “in the life of service, caring for people.” The family moved to Madison, Alabama, where she became the mother’s ministry leader in her church. She coached her son’s third-grade soccer team, “and just had a blast.” She found a freedom and joy in “trusting it’s OK” that her resume isn’t growing at this stage in her life.

“I always admired the way the Women of Distinction honorees were committed to pouring out their time, talent and treasure right there in their local community and in service to PBA,” she said. “It inspires me to want to give my heart in a big way to the people right here in my life, in my family and in my church and neighborhood.”

Current Spring 2016 11

Combat vet eyes political service

Alum in India

Dr. Craig Hall, left, with his daughter, Ana, in Kolkata. Hall was judging a contest during the Indian holiday Durga Puja.

overload,' New post in Kolkata: 'Sensory good will toward U.S.

D

r. Craig Hall ’87, a Merritt Island, Florida, native, remembers the striking diversity he found when he came to PBA. “That was the first time I had ever been around so many people from different backgrounds,” he said. It was good training for Hall, now a high-profile American in Kolkata, India.

“India is incredibly diverse,” said Hall, who is U.S. consul general in Kolkata (formerly known by the Anglicized name Calcutta). As consul general, he heads the U.S. consulate that represents American interests in Indian states having 250 million people.

Hall joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1999, and has served posts in Indonesia, Korea, Iraq and

12 Current

Spring 2016

Australia. He came to Kolkata in August of 2015, and is enjoying “the sensory overload, the sights, the sounds, the smells.” More importantly, he’s finding abundant good will in India toward the U.S. “We’re pushing on open doors, and the challenge is there are just so many doors to push open,” he said.

Hall’s consulate processes visas and promotes U.S. business interests and U.S. educational opportunities. And as representatives of the U.S. government, he said, “we do a lot of work on human rights.”

His public diplomacy team, for example, does much on issues such as “human trafficking, protection for irregular migrants, respect for genders and advocating against

gender-based violence.”

After graduating from PBA as a religion and philosophy major, Hall went to Baylor University, where he earned a Ph.D. in religious studies with a focus on the relationship between religion and politics. Now in India he finds much interest in matters of faith.

“You meet people, and they’re eager to talk about spirituality, because it’s a part of their world and everyday life,” he said. “We put a lot of effort into promoting and advocating for religious tolerance.”

Representing the U.S., Hall said, “we’ve got a great story to tell, and we do a lot of good in the world. So it’s a fulfilling kind of job.”

I

f Chad Simpson enters politics in a couple of years, he’ll bring with him a wealth of experience from his 20 years in the military. He’s had three combat tours, visited more than 40 countries and circumnavigated the globe twice aboard ship. And now his new job is U.S. Navy liaison officer to the Royal Canadian Navy.

“I’ve had a non-standard naval career,” said Simpson. “I think that God has allowed me to see a greater depth and reach of things.”

A native of Largo, Florida, Simpson ’96 majored in history and political science at PBA and earned an MBA from Colorado State University. He won his naval aviator wings flying the Seahawk helicopter.

By the time of Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003) Simpson had been promoted to officer of the deck aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, a nuclear-powered super carrier. In that role, he “ran the ship” when the captain was busy.

It was a good opportunity for leadership, he said. Later, after his training to become an intelligence officer, that leadership role took him to two combat tours in Afghanistan, doing counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida and the Taliban. Living in a plywood hut, and seeing the blood and death among friend and foe alike, he said, “you’re just thankful for each day.”

In August Simpson moved to Ottawa, where he now works in the Canadian version of the Pentagon, and serves attached to the U.S. Embassy. “The Royal Canadian Navy is a strong partner

with us in NATO,” he said. His job is “to ensure that our relationship continues to be strong and to share as much information with them as possible.”

“One of the reasons why I love serving in the U.S. Navy is that it gives me that opportunity to serve,” said Simpson. He recalled how PBA “helped me at a young age understand the value of doing

something outside of yourself for the benefit of others.”

Simpson serves on PBA’s alumni association board of directors. His call to service could lead him to Washington, D.C. in a few years.

After military retirement, he’s thinking of “maybe moving down to Naples, Florida” and vying for a seat in Congress.

Alum in Canada

Chad Simpson ’96 stands in front of the Canadian War Memorial and the Canadian Parliament.

Current Spring 2016 13

Blessing south side of Chicago kids

A Mary Roberts, right, highfives Silviana Monroe, who has already met the challenge of reading 1 million words.

Reading will 'open doors,' says alum

A

t Homestead Senior High School, among Mary Roberts’ 150 ninth-graders, the majority come to her reading at an elementary level. They don’t read independently, and they hate reading in class.

In this poverty-tainted suburb of Miami, that reading level is typical of the high-need schools targeted by Teach For America. “If you don’t read, you can’t write,” said Roberts. “You can’t do science, or even math. You can’t do anything else.” So this school year Roberts has challenged her students to read books amounting to 1 million words.

Pushing her kids toward this ambitious goal, Roberts employs positive energy, puns, laughter, music, field trips and unflagging encouragement.

“What kind of literary term is pizza party plates?” asked Roberts, as she recently handed out pizza to her top readers.

“Alliteration,” called out several students.

“Alliteration!” cried Roberts. “You’re so smart. I’m super proud of you guys. You guys are the leaders in your classes to show that as you read, you get better in everything else.

“Reading will take you places,” she said. “It will open up doors for adventure. It will open up doors for college.”

Miami native Roberts ’14 is in the second year of

14 Current

Spring 2016

her Teach For America assignment. A ministry major at PBA, now she finds a “ministry” doing much more than promoting reading.

“They come talk to me,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of students come, like during lunch or after school and they just sit by my desk and they’re just crying because, like their brother got shot or their mom might have cancer. I run out and buy them Wendy’s and we just sit and talk.”

Roberts works hard to provide her students a respectful, safe, exciting place, “because a lot of them don’t have those safe places.”

In addition to teaching six sections of Intensive Reading, she sponsors the school’s poetry club, which often occupies her Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

Monday and Wednesday nights she’s at the University of Miami, completing her master’s degree in education and social change.

“It’s been a very busy year,” she said, “but a lot of good things have been happening, so I’m grateful for that.”

Hannah North, the literacy department head at Homestead, calls Roberts “one of the strongest relational teachers” she’s ever known. North has seen Roberts grow “to someone who has embraced her teacher identity and decided to lead her students every day from her values of justice, joy, and adventure.”

second-chance, last-chance kind of high school,” Taber high school student shows off seven of said. Her students are 18 to 21, some of them having his gunshot wounds; homeless students been out of school for two or three years. She knew she’d wonder where they will crash for the night; have challenges aplenty. other students have two or three children of their “I don't know if I’d be able to do it if I didn’t have the own. “It’s the stuff you see in movies,” said Kelsey PBA community to support me,” she Taber, describing what goes on at an said. So this novice teacher has had PBA alternative high school on the south friends and professors praying for her side of Chicago. “I think that it would new mission. “It’s been truly amazing,” change anyone’s life to see these kids she said, “being able to pick up the phone work hard and try to overcome the and call them.” obstacles that they face every day. I PBA Registrar Audrey Schofield would give them the world if I could.” has gladly received some of those calls, And what this 22-year-old teacher because she mentored Taber through the can give them, she does, starting with University program Overflow. “Kelsey respect and love. “PBA has prepared me is thriving,” said Schofield. “The stories a lot for this,” she said, “the way PBA has she’s sending me of connecting with the taught me how to love other people and students; how she’s already inspiring have community with people.” them and blessing them. She has a real Michigan native Taber graduated in heart to serve.”

May of 2015, with plans to attend medical “It’s all about building relationships school. Her PBA professors encouraged and earning their trust in the beginning,” her to take off a year or two before Kelsey Taber '15 said Taber. “They really know that I care med school, but told her, “you need to be productive” during that time. So she investigated Teach about them. If I was on the street for some reason, I know a handful of them would take a bullet for me.

For America and “fell in love” with the mission to They’re loyal. They’re just wonderful kids.” serve urban and rural schools with heavy needs.

Teach For America sent Taber to Chicago and “a

'Heart of service'

L

aunched in 1990, Teach For America (TFA) is a selective program that recruits sharp college grads, provides them with intensive training over the summer, then sends them out to teach in low-income, high-need areas.

“It’s quite an honor” to be selected for the program, said PBA Registrar Audrey Schofield. She served as mentor for Kelsey Taber, the most recent PBA grad to join TFA ranks. Taber ’15 is in the first year of her two-year commitment with the program, while Mary Roberts ’14 is in her second year.

“Kelsey and Mary are among the cream of the crop, the best of the

Teach For America goals fit PBA culture

best,” said Schofield.

Each year TFA recruits graduates from some of the nation’s most prestigious universities. (See www. teachforamerica.org) The program seeks graduates who not only are high-functioning, but who also have the drive to make a difference in communities suffering “the longterm effects of poverty, racism and other deeply rooted injustices.”

“This is a heart of service that was nurtured at PBA,” said Schofield. She cites PBA’s Workship program as a key influence. “It’s our model; it’s our culture, and these students caught the fire,” she said.

Serving through Teach For

America is not for the faint of heart. Joe Yurchak ’10, former soccer goalie for the Sailfish, started a TFA stint in Atlanta just a couple of months after he graduated. That first year, he said, “was the absolute hardest year that I’ve encountered.”

But Yurchak stuck it out, finished his two-year commitment and concluded there’s much more work remaining to help low-income families. He’s now a college match counselor in the Nashville area, working with KIPP, a charter school network started by TFA alumni. He called his two years with TFA “very grounding and life-changing at the same time.”

Current Spring 2016 15

The fans were 'fabulous'

'That meant the world to us' --Mac McMahon, men's soccer head coach (Story on following page)

Sailfish fans shout their approval after a PBA goal during the NCAA regional tournament. A crowd of more than 1,100 came out for the NCAA South Region championship game. PBA soccer players, from left, are Steven Fiema, Lucas Coutinho and Tom Gavin. Celebrating with the Sailfish flag is Adam Fiema, Steven's brother

16 Current

Spring 2016

Current Spring 2016 17

A Historic milestones: PBA Athletics reaches new pinnacles of NCAA tournament success and fan involvement

Lucas DaSilva (27) scored 17 goals for the season, as the Sailfish led the nation in goals per game.

18 Current

Spring 2016

thletic Director Carolyn Stone recalled the days when Palm Beach Atlantic competed as an independent school, without a conference and without any outdoor facilities. “We came up with these five really crazy goals to transform Sailfish Athletics,” she said.

Those goals included joining the Sunshine State Conference, winning NCAA regional titles and gaining state-of-the-art athletic facilities. The goals may have seemed far-fetched to some, but with the fall sports of 2015, the Sailfish showed “we’re hitting the mark,” Stone said.

Consider these milestones: ◆ Competing under provisional membership in the Sunshine State Conference, PBA’s volleyball team and men’s soccer team won the NCAA Division II regional championships. And Sailfish volleyball went on to become national runner-up. ◆ Palm Beach Atlantic hosted the NCAA regional tournaments for both volleyball and men’s soccer.

While PBA soccer teams of years past played without any home field, last fall the Sailfish proudly welcomed visitors to the 76-acre Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Athletic Campus. ◆ Individual athletes and their coaches won a host of awards, including All-American honors for athletics and academics. (See list on page 20.)

“A lot of people think that Christian means lesser,” said Stone. “But we show that you can be fiercely competitive in the classroom, you can be fiercely competitive on the field and you can win with class and keep our values. That’s the biggest win. Hands down, that’s what we’re most proud of as Sailfish Athletics family and as a university.”

“I’m very proud of the men you are,” Stone told members of the soccer team, as they came together to learn their seeding in the regional tournament. “I’m proud of how well you represent our institution on the field and in the classroom.”

The soccer team finished the season with a 17-2-1 record, the best in program history. In NCAA Division II, the PBA squad led the nation in goals per game (4.20) and assists per game (3.55).

In the NCAA South Region title game the Sailfish crushed Rollins College 6-1, giving head coach Mac McMahon his 200th career coaching victory, and enjoying the cheering support from a crowd of 1,129.

“The atmosphere, the crowd was fabulous,” said McMahon. “The student body was incredible in their support. That meant the world to us.”

Playing at the Rinker Athletic Campus “was terrific,” McMahon said, citing “the pitch, the playing surface, the look of it, the speed of it.” He called the campus “as good a facility as there is in the country.”

Stephany Brown spikes the ball against Tampa, with energized fans watching intently.

PBA’s soccer team made it to the NCAA Elite Eight, finally losing 4-5 to Pfeiffer University, the eventual national champions.

For Sailfish volleyball, a pinnacle of the season came before tournament time, as the squad met nemesis University of Tampa on Nov. 6. Perennial power Tampa had knocked PBA out of the NCAA South Regional Final in 2014. The first day back to school after Christmas of 2014, Sailfish volleyball coach Bob White told his team, “We’re going to start figuring out today what we’ve got to do to beat Tampa on Nov. 6.”

Ten months later, the Sailfish were ready, with the help of a standing-room-only crowd in the Rubin Arena. “The crowd was unbelievable,” said White.

Some 1,700 people filled the stands, a record for any athletic contest in the Rubin. As play began, when the Sailfish rallied, “the crowd would just go nuts,” said White. “It was so loud that I lost my voice trying to communicate with my own team. As much as we had prepared, every time there was a moment of doubt, that crowd took the doubt away.”

Among the crowd were throngs of students wearing Sailfish shirts and others in costume or with painted faces. Student leaders on the Steering Committee had plastered “gameface” posters all over campus, and the

broader University community came out to urge on the team.

“We’d never had an event like this for a team,” said White, who has been at PBA since 2002. “It was just an all-out, collective effort, all those departments joining hands, that community involvement.”

The Sailfish blanked Tampa 3-0, and went on to host and win the regional tournament. They finished the season with a record of 31-5, losing to Wheeling Jesuit in the finals of the NCAA National Tournament.

In addition to the historic wins by volleyball and men’s soccer, “We’re doing a great job in the community and academics as well,” said Athletic Director Stone. More than 90 students earned a GPA of 3.2 or better to be honored at Chick-fil-A Scholar Athlete Night, she said, while more than 500 people came to the Rinker Athletic Campus for the community outreach Trunk or Treat on Oct. 30.

“Athletics can be a very positive part of the campus environment,” White said. White, Stone and McMahon all cited the support and collaborative work by the administrators, donors, faculty, students and others in the University community. That collaboration and the resulting successes in the fall season serve as “a real model for the future,” White said.

Current Spring 2016 19

Athletic family:

T

Who's on first? See if you can follow all these family connections

he volleyball team and the men’s soccer team at PBA for a lot of years, and I’ve never seen that many PBA traditionally have had a close relationship. people at games.”

Cameron’s brothers Caleb ’09 and Cheyne ’10 The coaches go out to eat together, and team both played soccer at Palm Beach Atlantic, while members come out to watch each other’s games. brother Clayton was assistant soccer coach in 2007So last fall when both teams won NCAA regional 08. Cheyne was named to PBA’s Sports Hall of fame championships, there was much shared excitement, at homecoming 2015. Rounding out the family’s PBA with an extra dose in the Roberts household. connection, the boys’ mother, Daphene Roberts, Soccer midfielder Cameron Roberts and volleyball earned her master’s degree in counseling on the setter Alexandra Marszalek Roberts were married in Orlando campus in 2010.

June of 2015, after a romance that began when they Wait. There’s more: Caleb were freshmen athletes in 2012.

Roberts married Emily Ryerson Balancing schoolwork, practice, ’09, who, like Alexandra, was a games and married life keeps setter on the volleyball team. them busy, to say the least.

Alexandra, a Chicago native, “It’s such a blessing that is a communication major with both of our sports are in the a minor in business. Cameron, same season,” said Alexandra. from Lakeland, Florida, majors “Otherwise, we would never see in finance. Both will graduate each other.” in May, but because they “redBut as the 2015 season Alexandra and Cameron Roberts shirted” a year, you might see drew to a close, it was a happy challenge to add more games to the schedule with both them on the field and court next season.

“We would love to be able to just come back and teams hosting their regional tournaments.

“It was exciting, coming out onto the field in front of support the teams here,” said Alexandra. “We really feel at home here.” a thousand people,” said Cameron. “I’ve been around

Individual Sailfish honors Volleyball awards

Bob White was named American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Division II National Coach of the Year and South Region Coach of the Year.

Player awards include the following: College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All American: Faith Rohn; CoSIDA Academic All-District: Faith Rohn and Emma Ballantyne; AVCA All-Americans: Faith Rohn (First Team), Sarah Ragland (Third Team) and Rachael Holehouse (Honorable Mention); AVCA All-Region: Faith Rohn, Rachael Holehouse, Sarah Ragland and Emma Ballantyne; AVCA South Region Freshman of the Year: Ally Rohn; Division II Conference Commissioners Association All-South Region: Faith Rohn (First Team), Rachael Holehouse (Second Team) and Sarah Ragland (Second Team);

20 Current

Spring 2016

NCAA South Region All-Tournament: Rachael Holehouse, Sarah Ragland, Ally Rohn and Faith Rohn; NCAA All-Tournament: Faith Rohn, Ally Rohn and Sarah Ragland.

Men's soccer awards

Brian McMahon was named National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) Division II South Region Coach of the Year.

Player awards include the following: Conference Commissioners Association AllAmericans: Jermaine Metz, Michael O'Sullivan, Lucas Coutinho and Lucas DaSilva; NSCAA All-Americans: Tom Gavin, Steeven Raymont and Lucas Coutinho; CoSIDA Academic All-American: Jermaine Metz; CoSIDA Academic All-District: Jermaine Metz and Michael O'Sullivan.

Sports broadcasting student David Tennent monitors the multiple-camera coverage of a Sailfish volleyball game.

Streaming live:

Broadcasting students go hightech to cover Sailfish sports, building worldwide audience

s Palm Beach Atlantic hosts an NCAA tournament, many wish they could be there to see it: the parents of a Sailfish player from Minnesota or Zimbabwe; a busy PBA trustee running off to a meeting; fans of the visiting team, perhaps from West Virginia or Alabama. There’s nothing like watching the Sailfish in person, but now all those folks can take advantage of the next best thing: multi-camera video coverage and live streaming on the Web. Under the expertise of Associate Professor of Journalism Don Piper, PBA students are shooting more and more of the University’s athletic events, providing coverage for the fans and getting valuable experience using sophisticated video equipment.

“In terms of recruiting and in terms of giving students real-world experience, to me it just seemed like a natural,” said Piper.

For the recent regional soccer tournament, Piper rented a motorized lift, giving two camera operators a high vantage point above the Rinker Athletic Campus field. The high-definition cameras sent wireless signals

to the press box of the baseball field, where Piper used a computer to mix the inputs and add graphics. The resulting package streamed live on the Internet through a service called Backlight TV, which viewers find through www.pbasailfish.com.

One camera covered the field wide, while the other zoomed in tight on the action. “It’s just like watching it on ESPN,” said Athletic Director Carolyn Stone. “They’ve done a tremendous job broadcasting our games this year.”

For volleyball in the Rubin Arena, Piper and crew used four cameras, two roving the floor and two shooting from the upper level. The students learn to use different cameras and the equipment to monitor and mix the signals. That experience will put PBA grads in good position for future job opportunities, Piper said. “The fastest growing part of the broadcasting industry is sports,” he said.

The work of Piper and his students, said Stone, “is a great example of an academic partnership in the world of athletics.”

A

Current Spring 2016 21

Booming biz from Bali Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, Dream, Discover.

-- Attributed to Mark Twain

I

n May of 2013, Delaware native Ben Katzaman left Palm Beach Atlantic with a degree in business and a Twain-like sense of adventure. A year later, the trade winds had swept him to the Indonesian Island of Bali, where he met local men skilled in carving water buffalo bone. Fast-forward to late 2015, and you find Katzaman with a thriving business selling bracelets hand-made in huts in Bali.

“Wanderer Bracelets is an incredible small business success story,” said West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio. She gave the greeting at PBA’s Dec. 12 commencement, where she cited Katzaman as a remarkable example of how “success has no borders.”

“What I first thought was just a small boutique bracelet shop has attracted an international following and is shipping bracelets across the world,” said Muoio.

The mayor helped Katzaman cut the ribbon at the Nov. 20 grand opening of Wanderer Bracelets’ retail shop on Northwood Road in West Palm Beach. There Katzaman joined a business community of restaurants, salons, galleries and “funky shops,” as described on the Northwood Village website.

Alumnus Ben Katzaman '13 in his Northwood Village shop.

(Continued on page 24)

22 Current

Spring 2016

Current Spring 2016 23

Anchor design was an early favorite; VW bus recently joined the mix.

(Continued from page 22)

Katzaman’s other business community includes up to 50 carvers in Bali. “The men in the village are master carvers,” said Katzaman. “They can carve anything you imagine.”

But while these Balinese artisans are highly skilled, Katzaman came to learn that many of the men had to put their craft aside and take on migrant laborer jobs just to feed their families. So he came up with an idea: if he used “a whole suite of technology,” he could “marry handicraft artisan production with scalable Western marketing, design and distribution.”

Katzaman provided a simple design for his first carver to fashion out of water buffalo bone. There are 1.3 million water buffalo used to plow the fields of Indonesia, he said, so as these animals die of natural causes there’s an abundance of the bone. This material provides a sustainable, natural alternative to ivory.

Katzaman sat in a Balinese hut for a week and designed a bracelet band made from standard nylon sewing threads. The finished bracelet turned out so well that he decided to start a company “to help create sustainable work for the people and preserve an ageold artisan culture while creating incredible goods that I could sell in the West.”

In December of 2014 he launched Wanderer Bracelets out of his bedroom with the help of $8,000 seed money from Kickstarter. Katzaman’s artisans in Bali did all the production of bracelets and handmade gift boxes, with bracelet design, sales, packaging, shipping and customer support happening here in

24 Current

Spring 2016

West Palm Beach. With the magic of the Internet and social media, the bracelets caught on, and orders flowed in from around the globe.

“West Palm Beach has been an incredible place to grow the company,” said Katzaman. “When I realized that this needed to be a lot bigger than just me, and be bigger than a hobby, I realized I needed a base of operations, and there was no better place to tap into than the community support from my alma mater PBA.”

PBA students Alec Bell and Jenna McMorrow working with Wanderer Bracelet orders.

Palm Beach Atlantic alumnus Kent Berame came aboard to help nine months ago. A 2015 communication grad with a minor in graphic arts, Berame draws bracelet designs using a digital sketchpad.

An anchor design became a popular seller early on, while a Volkswagen bus image recently joined the mix.

“We probably made 10 prototypes to get it perfect,” said Katzaman.

The company’s new headquarters in Northwood Village includes a 15-desk fulfillment center. The staff of 41 includes numerous PBA students or grads.

Katzaman didn’t disclose his sales volume, but said “we ship product all over the world.”

Katzaman calls himself the company’s CLO, chief learning officer. “Every day I’m reading articles, taking classes, watching video, going to meetings and workshops around the globe,” he said. And often he finds himself drawing upon what he learned in PBA business classes and the Supper Honors Program.

He fondly recalls the school’s nurturing environment “where you felt at home from day one.”

Now Katzaman delights in working with other PBA alumni and current students. And he keeps his former professors in his contact list “so I can call and grab coffee when I’m back in town.”

Business professor Scott Spell invited Katzaman back to PBA to speak to an Introduction to Business class. “Professor Spell said that morning before Ben walked into class that we were ‘in for a real treat,’ and that was exactly what it was,” said Cameron Hoskins.

“I really enjoyed listening to Ben speak and I walked

away with a deeper understanding and appreciation for entrepreneurship and management that day.”

“It was an utter joy to hear his story,” said Chloe Dunn. “It gave me courage to start looking into starting a business of my own.”

Katzaman loved the visit to that intro class. “It was cool to see the kids’ eyes light up and think, ‘I could do something like that one day.’”

It would seem that new batch of PBA business students caught the spirit of Wanderer Bracelets’ logo.

Hand-carved atop the wooden gift boxes, the image, (shown below) “symbolizes opening your eyes to new horizons,” Katzaman said.

Current Spring 2016 25

Pam Tebow coming April 9 “Pam is passionate about encouraging women to trust the Lord with all their hearts for all their lives” Pam Tebow

PBA alumna Geanine Wester ’03/’06 MBA

Y

ou have to give your children to the Lord and trust them in His hands, whether they’re heading off to college or to mission trips or dangerous work. That’s advice from the guest speaker coming to PBA’s annual alumnae tea.

But what if you’re watching your child out on the gridiron, and a 245-pound linebacker comes crashing into him?

Well, Pam Tebow has been there too, and she still trusts God to look after her “baby.” That would be the youngest of her five children, football star Tim Tebow.

Pam Tebow will speak at the Alumnae Afternoon Tea and Silent Auction on April 9. The day before, she’ll speak to PBA students in chapel.

In a recent telephone interview, she talked about raising her kids, and not just the famous one.

Pam and Bob Tebow raised three sons and two daughters. “My husband felt that playing a sport was important for our kids,” said Pam. “There are so many things you can learn from athletics.”

The Tebows tried hard to have their children balance their athletic pursuits with their academics. “Balance doesn’t come easy or natural,” she said, “so we just kept working at it and we tried to make requirements that

would make them well-rounded.”

An even greater priority, she said, was instilling a strong faith in the children. “We wanted them to have that personal relationship with the Lord.

“And we talked a lot about character,” said Pam. “Character really does come from your spiritual life.

But you don’t just talk about it; we tried to work on activities that would develop their character.”

Tim, in his book Through My Eyes, recalled, “We were given a dollar if someone complimented us on our character to Mom or Dad. We quickly became focused on those matters — such as character and humility — rather than on trying to impress someone with our exploits on or off the field.”

PBA alumna Geanine Wester ’03/’06 MBA is a big fan of University of Florida football, and she’s followed Tim’s career and also the ministry of his mother. She invited Pam to speak at the PBA tea, and was elated when Pam accepted.

“Pam is passionate about encouraging women to trust the Lord with all their hearts for all their lives,” she said. “And I feel this is an excellent message for the students, alumni, faculty and community to hear.”

15th Alumnae Afternoon Tea & Silent Auction To benefit the A lumni Association Scholarship Fund at Palm Beach Atlantic University

The Club at Admirals Cove – Jupiter Prizes for those who wear the best bows!

Saturday, April 9, 2016 For tickets: pba.edu/pba-tea16 26 Current

Spring 2016

Guest Speaker Pam Tebow

Rosemary Village kids thrilled to the parachute games, balloons, face-painting and other fun led by PBA students.

Workship reaches 3 million hours

O

n Jan. 18, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, the University’s Workship program exceeded its goal of providing 3 million hours of community service since PBA’s founding in 1968.

With classes closed for the holiday honoring King, more than 300 students and other volunteers came out for the special effort. They started early in the morning with worship in the Rubin Arena.

“Dreams do come true if you have a radical faith,” President William M. B. Fleming, Jr. told the crowd. “Wasn’t that a radical idea in 1968?” he said, referring to the first PBA students who began their Workship service to “be a good neighbor in Jesus’ name.” The idea of blending the words worship and work became the hallmark of Palm Beach Atlantic University, said Fleming.

Kate Magro, director of Workship, invited the volunteers to join hands and pray “family style” as she asked God’s blessing that “we may shine the light and love of Christ on everyone we encounter.”

Leaving the Rubin, the volunteers boarded buses to take on seven service projects including painting, gleaning, sorting food and interacting with youngsters at a neighborhood block party for Rosemary Village. By 11 a.m. the teams had logged enough time to exceed the goal of 3 million hours.

Kossivi Eble and other volunteers gleaned an estimated 9,000 pounds of peppers.

Current Spring 2016 27

Class Notes Newsworthy Notes David Long ’85 works for Ricoh, an international imaging and electronics company, and lives in Palm Beach Gardens with his wife, Karen, and son, Joseph.

Email: Soldier9208@gmail.com John Watkins ’90 and Michelle Santo Watkins ’89 moved to Lexington, South Carolina, where John is an associate director of church health at the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Michelle is a substitute teacher for the Lexington school district and works for the convention as a part-time office assistant.

Donna Gates Owens ’92 teaches middle school math in Blairsville, Georgia, and serves as a ministry event representative with David Meece Ministries.

Donna, her husband, Jeffrey, and their three sons live in Murphy, North Carolina. Email: donna@davidmeece.com Matthew Perry ’94 serves as lead pastor of Arapahoe Road Baptist Church in Centennial, Colorado, and aids in church revitalization through the North American Missions Board. This fall he

28 Current

Spring 2016

and church members traveled to Hungary, working with local missionaries to reach university students with the Gospel.

Matthew, his wife, Cindy, and their four children live in Centennial.

Email: matthew_perry@arbc.net Shelley Briggs Howe ’97 is a drama teacher at Pear Tree Point School in Darien, Connecticut. She and her husband, David, live in Norwalk, Connecticut, with their daughter, Jessica Leeann, 9, and son, Andrew Briggs, 6.

Ivette Rodriguez Miranda ’97 is chief executive officer at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital at Martin Health. She lives in West Palm Beach.

Email: imiranda1119@yahoo.com Marty Kiar ’99 is serving as county commissioner and mayor of Broward County, Florida. The PBA Alumni Association honored him with the Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2013. Marty lives with his wife, Kelly, and two daughters, Brianne and Camryn, in Davie, Florida.

Email: mkiar@broward.org

Robert Statler ’00 is the chef and owner of Food Island Organic Food Truck, a gourmet food truck based in Jupiter, Florida.

Website: www.foodislandtruck.com; Email: bob@foodislandtruck.com Juan Sierra ’01 launched a Spanishspeaking church plant congregation, Sunlight Español, in Port Saint Lucie, Florida.

Email: juan@sunlightcc.org Eduardo “Eddie” Garcia ’03 of the United States Army is serving as an active duty combat medic and is retiring from service in February 2016. He has proudly served with 1st Armored Division's 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion and 1st Brigade 36th Infantry Battalion as a health care specialist. He is stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas.

Elizabeth Duncan Eubanks ’04 M.Ed. received the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Teacher at Sea Award for Excellence in Science Education. She spent 18 years teaching in Palm Beach County, and participated in the Teacher

Researcher Experience with Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute at the Hatfield Marine Science Center at Oregon State University. She now has relocated to Pensacola, Florida, were she helps run a Community Garden for Innisfree Hotels called "From the Ground Up." Email: hoocaca@yahoo.com Rachel Willoughby Samson ’04 completed a master’s degree in Middle East studies at University of Exeter in England and then worked in Egypt. She has returned home and is a Ph.D. candidate at Nova Southeastern University studying conflict resolution with a focus in peace studies. She has launched her own company to teach children conflict resolution, peace building and problem solving skills. She lives in Daytona Beach with her husband, Michel, and their children, Raegan, 5; Olivia, 3; and Brett, 1. Website: www.theetiquetteseed.com; Email: samsonrmw@gmail.com Natalie Diaz ’11 is a fourth-year optometry student at Nova Southeastern University in Hollywood, Florida. This fall she received the Frank W. Weymouth Student Travel Fellowship and presented at the 2015 American

Academy of Optometry Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Email: NatalieKDiaz@yahoo.com

Weddings

teacher for Palm Beach County Schools and Cameron works as a PBA Campus Safety sergeant.

They live in West Palm Beach.

Email: Cameron_Carver@pba.edu

Charity Lamerson ’09 married Joshua Grams on Oct. 18, 2015 at the West Palm Beach Lake Pavilion.

Charity is a licensed clinical social worker at New Beginnings Recovery Center and Joshua is a partner for Village Vapor Company.

They live in Lake Worth, Florida.

Lauren Graham ’14 married Shawn Waller on April 11, 2015 at Grace Immanuel Bible Church.

Lauren is a freelance graphic designer and Shawn is a home health physical therapist.

They live in Jupiter, Florida.

Email: laurenegraham1@gmail. com

Quinn Johnson ’13 married Whitmore McHenry Benoit on Nov. 6, 2015 at St. Edward Catholic Church in Palm Beach.

After a reception at the Sailfish Club, the couple left by boat for their honeymoon. They live in West Palm Beach.

Caleb Hitchcock ’15 and Emily Pain ’15 were married in the DeSantis Family Chapel on July 25, 2015.

Caleb works as a director for KLIFE youth ministry and Emily is a second grade teacher. They live in Waco, Texas.

Email: cphitchy@gmail.com

Alayna Morton ’13 and Cameron Carver ’15 were married at Cross Community Church in Palm Beach Gardens on Dec. 31, 2015. Alayna is a music

Current Spring 2016 29

Births & New Additions Jennifer Plamondon Patterson ’99 and her husband, John, welcomed their fifth child, Ruth Anna, on May 30, 2015. She joins big brother, John Robert, and big sisters, Hannah Mae, Sarah Kate and Elizabeth Jane. Jennifer homeschools their children and John is the pastor of media at First Baptist Church of Naples, Florida.

Email: johnandjennifer@ jjpatterson.com

Amy Phillips ’06 and Michael Krug welcomed their daughter, Imogen River, on July 27, 2015.

They live in Denver, Colorado.

Amy started a non-profit organization, the Shanti Project, which works to support artisan families in Jaisalmer, India.

Website: www.theshantiproject.org Christopher Barker ’08 and his wife, Ashley, welcomed their first child, Brielle, on Aug. 4, 2015.

Christopher is a chiropractor and owner of New City Chiropractic in Lakeland, Florida.

Email: drcbarker7@gmail.com

Kacie Whaley Melvin ’04 and her husband, Bret, welcomed their daughter, Harmony Joy, on Sept. 24, 2015. Kacie teaches elementary music and Bret is a character artist. They live in Winter Springs, Florida.

Email: kacie.melvin@gmail.com

30 Current

Spring 2016

In Loving Memory

Ken Johnson, retired professional baseball player and former Workship employee, passed away Nov. 21, 2015 at his home in Pineville, Louisiana. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Lynn; a daughter, Janet; and sons Ken Jr. and Rusty.

PBAAlumni

Spencer Powell ’08 and Ashley Cremeans Powell ’15 welcomed their first child, Landon Nathanial, on May 13, 2015. They live in Goshen, Ohio.

Email: acremeans14@yahoo.com

Watch our Facebook page for more alumni news

What's your news?

Tell the PBA community about that new job, spouse or baby. www.pba.edu/ alumniservices

Rinkers’ tradition is philanthropy Many families practice special traditions for summer vacations, holiday meals or birthday celebration. For John and Sheila Rinker, philanthropy is a tradition handed down from prior generations. This generosity benefited Palm Beach Atlantic students when the college started in 1968 and continues today.

The Rinker family has been involved in the development of Palm Beach Atlantic since 1961, years before the first students arrived on campus. The late Marshall E. “Doc” Rinker Sr. was a member of First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach when the pastor, Dr. Jess Moody, shared his vision for a Christian university with the congregation. At the fall commencement ceremony last December Sheila Rinker recounted that conversation.

“Dr. Moody recognized immediately the one person who would not only share his vision but would make the financial sacrifices to start the long journey (to establish the university),” Mrs. Rinker said.

Doc Rinker wrote the first check but he wasn’t the only Rinker to step up to raise the needed resources. Doc’s wife, Vera Lea Rinker, and Doris Moody sold vegetables gleaned from local farms in the early days. That money was used to provide paint and furnishings for the college’s first dorms that were neighborhood houses surrounding the campus.

Though Doc and Vera Lea have since passed away, John and Sheila, along with the Marshall E. and Vera Lea Rinker Foundation, have continued their family tradition of philanthropy. Their support over the years brought to reality a building to house the School of Music and Fine Arts (Vera Lea Rinker Hall) as well as the Marshall and Vera Lea Rinker Athletic Campus.

“If Doc and Vera Lea Rinker were here today,” John Rinker said, “they would be proud not only of how far PBA has come but also deeply proud of how the both Christian academic leadership and students have had a profound and positive impact on this community.”

No doubt, they also would be proud of the continuing family tradition.

Current

Editorial Offices: P.O. Box 24708 West Palm Beach Florida 33416-4708

John Sizemore Editor of Current john_sizemore@pba.edu

See and share PDF version: www. pba.edu/current Current Spring 2016 31

P. O. Box 24708 West Palm Beach, FL 33416-4708

Championship couple: Alexandra and Cameron Roberts show off the trophies won by their respective teams as NCAA regional champs in volleyball and men's soccer. See story on page 20.

NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID WEST PALM BEACH FL PERMIT #1356